UNSC Imposes Additional Sanctions On Iran

The United Nations Security Council has just imposed a third round of sanctions on Iran for refusing to shut down its nuclear program. The vote was 14-0 with Indonesia abstaining.

UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. Security Council approved a third round of sanctions against Iran on Monday with near unanimous support, sending a strong signal to Tehran that its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment is unacceptable and becoming increasingly costly.

For the first time, the resolution bans trade with Iran in goods which have both civilian and military uses.

Iran has already stated that it will not comply with the latest sanctions. Undoubtedly, a mildly worded letter of protest will be forthcoming from the UN on that. The problem with sanctions in general is that they require the sanctioned country to comply – which is rarely the case. As the "tough" sanctions on Saddam Hussein's Iraq showed, they also tend to be avenues for corruption.

3 Responses to UNSC Imposes Additional Sanctions On Iran

Have sanctions ever worked against any country? If so, I don’t recall hearing about it. For sanctions to actually work, the country on the receiving end actually has to care that they are being sanctioned – they never do. In most cases they use it as internal propaganda for their own people: "Look at your government, we don’t let anyone bully your nation. We laugh in the faces of those pityful sanctioners! Be proud – no one can push our country around!" and so forth. And there are always those unscrupulous people/companies/nations that are willing to circumvent the sanctions for fun and profit.

Have sanctions worked? Yes, South Africa. Enough people were hurt there that the nominal democracy they had could not continue. The hope is that unlike Saddam’s Iraq there is still an opposition group in Iran. OTOH, if history is our guide we have something like ten more UNSC resolutions against Iran to go.